Among the Flames
by MapleBunny
Summary: Cross over between Hetalia and Nightmare Inspector. An alternate reality scenario concerning 1812 and why Canada has been so transparent all these years. One Shot. Characters: Canada, America, Hiruko, Mizuki, mentions of England. M for dark themes.


**This is only my second Fan fic... I'm not exactly confident in my writing, and I can see there are a lot of flaws. So I apologize to anyone reading in advanced, I typically only write certain characters. America is not one of them :\... Which is why he has no actual lines. So, I hope some people enjoy it, or the concept at least. It's just something that has been rolling around in my head since I started reading Nightmare Inspector. If you haven't, I suggest you do. It's really quite awesome, I enjoy it. As I also enjoy hetalia. Sorry about typos, I'm going to be going through it a few times when I have the time. Thanks in advanced to anyone who reads this.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, which is why I'm totally broke right now o_o;...**

On a corner, there is a shop.

A shop ever bathed in darkness.

The 'Silver Star Tea House'.

Unfortunate people come here seeking the help they need to face their darkest doubts, and fears.

Here they request the aid of one that was once human, but is no longer...

He is the nightmare inspector, Hiruko.

A being known as a baku, that feeds only upon dreams... Or more precisely... Nightmares.

The 'Silver Star Tea House' is his place of operations, he investigates the nightmares of his clients, and in return keeps said nightmare to eat.

A young looking man approached a small tea house on a corner of a lonely looking street, just after dark. He wore a casual red hoodie, the brand name on the front with a beaver in white. His hands were curled around a small - quite real - polar bear, and his head of red gold hair swayed in the light breeze, a curl sticking up to spite him, hanging in his face to tease and torture him as it tickled his nose, causing his eyes that sat behind wire rimmed glasses to cross every now and again.

He made his way up to the shop, and stopped in front of it's pristine glass door. Hesitantly, he reached out and took it's handle in his hand, before pulling and entering, a small jingle sounding from a bell hanging on it's frame. "Hello...?" He called out in a soft, nervous voice. Moments later he was greeted by a young woman garbed in a traditional kimono, with a sweet face and short, dark hair. "Hello, welcome to the Silver Star Tea House. Can I help you...?" She asked kindly, offering the young man his pick from various kinds of coffee or tea.

Nodding, the blond made his selection as he answered. "I was wondering, is this the tea house that a Baku resides at...?" He glanced around as the woman nodded, until his eyes fell on a darker corner of the tea house. "Yes, his name is Hiruko. You can find him at that table." She nodded to the corner, where a small figure was sitting. Playing with a cane in one hand, while looking out the window with a rather bored expression. "Thank you very much, eh?" He nodded slightly, before wandering over to the table.

"Hello... Uh, Mr. Hiruko, sir?" He spoke up politely in hopes of getting the baku's attention. The figure turned his head, short blond (Though almost green in a way) hair pulled back in a blue belt-like band. "Yes, that would be me. You have a nightmare that you would like me to look at...?" He asked, eyes lazily glancing side long at the blond man. Despite his calm, almost disinterested attitude, he was clearly studying his customer closely. A hunger that needed to be satisfied present, and obvious curiosity.

"Yes, my name is Matthew. Matthew Williams. Or, uh... Canada." He responded quickly, still obviously nervous about what he was doing, but stubborn and resigned to go through with this. He did not wait for any ridiculous responses questioning what he meant, nor did he have to. Hiruko's expression was unchanged, and quite unsurprised. "I have.. I have been having this dream, for a very long time. I can't even begin to remember when it started really. But... Every night, I dream of something that happened a long time ago. A building is on fire, actually, many buildings are on fire. But I'm in the main building... I... I'm trapped inside, and I can't get out. I can see my brother's face in the window outside."

He paused for a moment, shaking his head as a hard expression crossed his face, before continuing. "I... I'm injured, and crying out for some one to help me. The flames get closer, and closer... Then I wake up." He ended rather lamely, face fixed in a state of mixed emotions. "I feel like it's important, that I need to know what comes next. Otherwise, I fear I may have to continue going through it every night."

The baku continued to stare at the embodiment of Canada for a few moments, the smallest spark of interest evident in his eyes as he considered the man in front of him. "You are aware that most dreams end badly, one way or another... Correct?" When the Northern Nation nodded, Hiruko straightened in his seat and let out a long breath. "Very well, I will help. And as a payment, I will keep your nightmare."

Matthew nodded too quickly, "Thank you! I really appreciate your help, eh?" He murmured, taking a seat at the table as Hiruko gestured with one hand for the Canadian to take the chair across from him. "Shall we begin then?" He asked with a small, unnerving smile. The blond found himself nodding again, in that quick, hurried manner. He wanted to begin, before he had the chance to back out. He had already tried to make the trip to the store three times that week. The part of him that did not want to know having won out each time. So, now that he was finally here, he certainly did not want to risk it winning again.

Hiruko reached down and picked up his cane, "Alright." He commented in a rather emotionless voice, raising the item and holding it close, in front of Canada's face. "Sleep now, leave this world behind." He stated, no commanded, in the same tone of voice he had been using all evening.

Before the embodiment of Canada knew it, he was gone from the tea house. The walls around him were that of the familiar, burning, blackening building in his dream. He was sitting on the floor, a wound running through his shoulder where a bayonet blade had pierced it, a small series of holes running down his other side and thigh where he'd been in the line of fire. It was his dream, just as it was every night. The pain, the choking smell of smoke heavy in the air around him.

A hand rested upon his shoulder, startling him, well that was new... Looking back in a daze, Matthew was surprised to see Hiruko there. Looking as bored and unconcerned as ever, aside from an unmistakable sheen of anticipation glittering behind his usual blank, blue orbs. "This is your dream then...?" He spoke with mild interest, looking around the room that looked like it had been build many many years ago in the past. "Yes, it's... It's just like this... Every night..." He replied with labored breaths, eyes stinging as smoke got in them. He looked around again, watching as the flames licked closer and closer. "Well, where are we then...? You must know, for it to haunt you for as long as it has... I believe this will be the first step in answering your questions."

Canada squinted, good arm reaching up to rub one eye with a soot covered hand. Eyes darting this way and that as he willed himself to speak up. "Y-York... Where Toronto is now... One of the main buildings of the Legislative Assembly..." He coughed, body shuddering slightly. "It's... It's April 27th... 1813." He said quietly, as if rambling off a mixture of facts and frightful memories, unable to stop them from coming forth and making it all the more real for Matthew. Another fit of coughs racked his body, he brought his hand up to silence them out of habit. Covering his mouth, only to withdraw it as he felt something thick and warm coat it. The blond blinked rapidly as he looked down at the blood that coated his hand, the dizzying memories flooding his body.

"So this is the burning of York, the war of 1812." Hiruko stated, not unlike a boring history teacher would. A ghost of a dark smile crossing his face, "Your own brother invaded, correct? Burnt the place to the ground..." He continued and wandered around to stand in front of the wounded Canadian. The fires danced around behind his feat, he would move every now and then to avoid the flames. His eyes turned vaguely to the window, before looking back to Matthew.

"Yes, that's right." Matthew responded in a sharper tone, wiping his hands off on the worn, tattered uniform. Choking on his voice as he felt rather passionate feelings of hate and betrayal bubbling up inside. "It was his victory... But I still came back, I, British North America at the time, still won." He smiled thinly, unashamed of the unusual malice that laced his voice for once. "Arthur was actually proud of me for once, eh? Burnt the bastard's White House to the ground. I thought it was fitting. Payed him back."

All the while, the flames drew closer, Hiruko watched with that growing dark smile as he let Matthew release his old, usually restrained emotions. He already suspected where this was going, and already he could tell this would be a particularly delicious dream. "Of course... No one remembers, Arthur hardly realizes it ever happened now... No one does... It's like I'm invisible to them, nothing I do for anyone ever sticks either... Just Alfred, he's the only one who really admits that it even happened. He doesn't like to, of course. But he does... When he sees me, anyways..."

The embodiment of Canada fell silent for a moment, before coughing again, eyes glazing slightly as he looked around the burning room in a daze. The panicked need to cry for help slowly creeping in on him as the flames grew ever closer, and the smoke seemed to wrap around his throat, ever tighter... "No one ever sees you... No one ever thinks of Canada... It's strange, isn't it...?" Murmured the baku, who walked around the room again, absently beating out a flame on his sleeve. "Seems almost preposterous for the embodiment of an entire country, the second largest in the world, to be as invisible as you are... Right?" He commented as he rested his chin in his hand, tapping the cheek with mock thoughtfulness. "Where does the dream go from here, I wonder...?"

Matthew shuddered, "I wake up soon... Soon I wake up. I never find out how it ends, eh?" He mumbled, almost to himself. Hiruko shook his head a little. "Doesn't your brother show up...?" He asked casually, and tapped on the window with his cane lightly. Matthew turned his head sharply, eyes widening with obvious emotional pain as his brother stared at him through the window. His almost twins face a mix of obvious regret and stubborn will to succeed, to see this through to the end. No matter what it cost him... "A-Alfred..." The blond mumbled, staring at his brother with hurt. Forgetting the baku was watching.

He had heard all the reasons his almost twin was doing this, he knew, but it didn't hurt any less. They were supposed to be brothers, weren't they...? So why did he have to... The thoughts ended there as he clasped his side and raised a free hand, voice lifting to call for help. For some one to get him out there. Sure, nations technically didn't die, right...? But, something felt wrong in the back of his mind... A little nagging whisper, almost cruelly taunting him.

"So where does this end, what happens next...?" A voice broke through his thoughts as the blond was struggling to wake himself up before the flames finally reached him. Turning he looked at the Baku, who was again patting out a flame that was climbing up his black clothes. "You said you wanted to get to the bottom of it, didn't you...? You want to know why it's plaguing you. If you wake up now, you may never face the truth."

Matthew shook his head feebly, "I... I think this was something I didn't want to remember..." He murmured and tried to push himself up again, a jolt running through him as flames licked up his leg. Grunting in pain he reached down with a shaking hand, trying to pat the flames out as Hiruko had been, but far less effective as the flames were now just licking up around him. "Do you want to give up now, then? You know I can't, it's too late." He stepped across the floor to stand next to the fallen nation. The embodiment of Canada slowly looked up, a resigned, stubborn in his gaze again, despite the pain on his face. "I wouldn't want to... It's obvious that it's time for me to remember, that it's been time for awhile."

Nodding, the Baku crouched, ignoring the flames that ate away at his delicate flesh, "Then let us see how this ends." The blond could have sworn from the look in the other's eyes, that Hiruko was probably tempted to lick his licks in anticipation. It was clear the Creature - for that's all it could be, it was hardly a human being, perhaps half at best - knew it was almost the end. What did a nightmare such as this taste like, he vaguely wondered as he watched the flames closing in. The flames began to eat away at his body, and he could hardly suppress the screams that followed.

And then, his eyes lost focus, the feeling of being choked, of burned alive, bleeding to death, all faded and were gone. Hiruko watched with some obvious discomfort, it was going to take awhile to recover from his burns, but in the end... One needed to eat, to sustain themselves. A few burns was well worth it in the end, especially when it was his favorite sort of nightmare...

Quietly, the more greedy side of the baku, mused that he should not have agreed to this. He could have probably kept the man for many more nightmares, considering how long a nation usually lived, and the things they saw in their life time. But, that side of him was not the dominant side, and he had to do his job. As long as he got his meal at the end of it, the balance was kept.

A door broke in, and a being that looked rather similar to Canada burst in. He stood aside, unseen, unnoticed, this wasn't his world after all. The young man with soot covered skin beat out the flames around Matthew, frantic as he exclaimed random apologies and excuses. How he'd never meant for it to happen this way, that he was doing this for the good of his country, but that he had never wanted Matthew to die... No, he had not. He repeated this a few times, as though to convince himself that it was true. Hiruko smiled that dark, thin smile. Eyes narrowing as he watched what would be a touching scene had the twin been alive.

Glancing side long as a quiet voice spoke up, "I remember now... I really died that night... I was gone. Literally, as far as nations go... But I came back, something in me... Something in me didn't want it to end there. I was too hurt, to worried for my people, too... Mad at him to let go." A ghostly form, with an calm and relaxed face nodded in the direction of the corner of the room. Where a similar form was glaring maliciously around the room. Muttering rather madly about it not ending, about how he would pay his brother back. That it was his land, and his people, and it would remain so.

Shaking his head, Matthew sighed. "I sort of... I think I forgot myself, in all the mess of this. I just stopped remembering I wasn't even alive. Some times people could see me, especially when I was feeling the most... Emotional. It was like I was really there. I just kept carrying on. I should have remembered sooner though, Kumajiro never knew my name... I wasn't Canada. I'm not now... I haven't been since that day, right...?" He tilted his head at the baku, who was quiet. No answer was needed. "It makes sense, to me anyways..." The blond pouted a bit, but shrugged. "It's over now though..."

"Yes it is, will you move on now...?" Hiruko asked with vague interest as he lifted his cane. "I have no reason to, I suppose... The war was over so long ago, I should have been gone long ago. I guess... I guess it's time, eh?" He smiled that gentle smile one last time, a slight sadness in his eyes as he accepted the out come of his request to the baku. "Then it's time to wake up." Hiruko pointed the cane again, and the images around them faded.

When Hiruko opened his eyes, there was no one sitting across from him, as he expected. Just a lonely cup of coffee, and a lone polar bear snuffling the floor near his feet. Wincing he rubbed his leg, "Ow..." Hiruko mumbled to himself as he looked to the girl who was still sitting behind the tea counter, who had noticed their customer disappear a short while ago. Upon realizing the newly injured state of Hiruko, she set to getting their medical kit and hurrying over to treat his burns. "Thank you Mizuki." He mumbled, pulling a small red orb out of the glass sphere on his cane. Rolling it between his fingers he regarded it thoughtfully.

"You're welcome Hiruko." She murmured, a few moments later glancing at the little marble sized orb in the baku's hands. "You got the nightmare then? What happened to our customer?" She asked, but was hardly alarmed. This happened every now and again. They got all sorts of customers... Though, she was rather curious about the man. He was the embodiment of a nation after all. Which meant it was probably a rather large thing for him to have gone like that.

"Yes, I did... My favorite sort too. Dark, pain, blood... It will taste delicious." He said with a light shrug. Looking down at the rather oddly small polar bear that was trying to climb up on to the chair that it's master's spirit had just been sitting in. "He's gone now... Moved on, as he should have. At peace, I suppose." His expression had taken on that rather bored tone again, as he had a feeling this was the end of his night. Slipping the dream past his lips, he savored it before swallowing. "Honestly, the interesting thing I suppose would be to see how long it takes for anyone to realize what happened. And that they have no known embodiment for the second largest country in the world. Now that it's former shadow has moved on. It still exists, as does it's people." Thoughtfully he glanced away from the bear and out the window.

Mizuki picked up the little ball of fluff off the floor and rubbed it's head. "We should probably find out what to do with this... Send it home, or to some one who knows what to do with it, right?" She quirked her head to one side as she waited for Hiruko to answer. When he did not, she carried it back through the shop, to find a place for it for now, and to perhaps close up shop for the night. All the while, Hiruko continued to watch out the window lazily, various thoughts running through his head.

...He cared not for the out come, nor did he care for the answer to his musings. In the end, he expected, he only cared for getting sustenance...


End file.
